• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.117-123
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• 2018

Background: Prostatitis, one of the most common diseases of the prostate, is a complex disease with various clinical features. This study aims to analyze the utilization and prescribing patterns of antibiotics in Korean patients with prostatitis between 2008 and 2015. Methods: We used the National Health Insurance Database complied from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA). The outcomes included the number of claims, number of patients, medical cost, and length of stay for each year. In addition, the prescribing patterns of antibiotics, including fluoroquinolone, and low-dose use of ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin were investigated. Results: The total number of patients and medical cost increased by 9.5% and 51.7% from 2008 to 2015, respectively. Most prostatitis patients were classified as chronic prostatitis patients. The prescribing proportion of antibiotics for chronic prostatitis outpatients decreased from 71.0% to 66.9% from 2008 to 2015, and fluoroquinolone accounted for more than half of the total antibiotics. Over 80% of prescription of levofloxacin and ciprofloxacin was identified to be for low-dose use. Conclusion: Most of the patients with prostatitis experienced pain relief and condition improvement after antibiotic treatment; however, chronic prostatitis and chronic pelvic pain syndrome recur easily. Therefore, active disease management and further studies are needed to enhance our understanding of effective treatment for prostatitis.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.249-253
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• 2019

Purpose: We aimed to analyze the trend in intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) use in Korea from 2011 to 2018. Materials and Methods: We collected data from the Health and Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) big data based on the National Health Insurance Service claims and reimbursements records using primary treatment planning codes (HD 041) for IMRT from 2011 to 2018. We analyzed the changing patterns in clinical application to specific tumor sites and regional differences in IMRT utilization. Results: The use of IMRT has exhibited an 18-fold steep rise from 1,921 patients in 2011 to 34,759 in 2018. With regard to IMRT in 2018, 70% of patients (24,248/34,759) were treated in metropolitan areas (Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province). IMRT was most commonly used to treat breast, lung, and prostate cancers in 2018. Among these, the use of IMRT for breast cancer shows the most remarkable increase from 2016 when the National Health Insurance began to cover IMRT for all solid tumors. Conclusion: The use of IMRT is steadily increasing to treat cancer and is concentrated in metropolitan areas.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.31 no.4 s.63
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• pp.592-603
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• 1998

This study was conducted to estimate incidence rate of female breast cancer in a defined area of Chungchongbuk-do in Korea. The presumptive breast cancer cases were selected from two different sources, i.e., medical utilization database of the National Health Insurance Corporation and the database from the National Cancer Registry. Medical students visited each hospital where the presumptive cases had been treated as a breast cancer patient, and made a dictation of medical record of each patient based on the claims stored in the Insurance Corporation from January to December 1995. The diagnoses in the claims included one of the following diagnostic codes; ICD-9 174-175(malignant neoplasms of the breast), 233(carcinoma in situ of the breast and genito-urinary system)or ICD-10 C50(malignant neoplasms of the breast), D05(carcinoma in situ of the breast and genito-urinary system). Each case has been confirmed as having a breast cancer by a breast surgeon through a medical record review. Age-standardized incidence rate of female breast cancer to the Korean population was estimated to be 10.5(95%confidence interval : 8.1-12.9)per 100,000 persons in 1995. Age-standardized rate to the world population was 9.8 per 100,000 persons, and the truncated rate for ages 35-64 was 27.2 per 100,000 persons. Validity of these estimates is discussing in comparison with previous methods of incidence estimation in Korea.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2002

Objectives : To review the drug prescription pattern of antiulcerative agents for elderly inpatients, Methods : The study population comprised inpatients of community hospitals who were members of the Korean Elderly Pharmacoepidemiologic Cohort (KEPEC), aged 65 years or over, beneficiaries of the Korea Medical Insurance Corporation (KMIC) and residing in Busan city in 1993. The drug prescription information was collected from the claims data of hospitals where the cohort members received medical care between January 1993 and December 1594. The information included personal identification, age, gender, diagnosis, drug dosage, date of hospital admission and name of medical institutions where the study subjects received drug prescriptions. The data analysis produced outcomes in terms of distribution of antiulcerative agents by class and by medical institution and trend of relative prescription, Analysis was also performed in terms of combined prescriptions of antiulceratives and drugs that could induce risk from drug interaction with antiulceratives. Results : The number of patients prescribed antiulcerative agents was 1,059 (64,9%) male and 1,724 (65.5%) female among the total inpatients. An antacid and composite agent was the most frequently prescribed antiulcerative agent (70.8%), followed by $H_2$ antagonist (16.0%), Among the potential drugs that could induce risk from drug interaction with the antiulcerative agents, diazepam was the most frequently prescribed. The proportion of diazepam co-prescription was 22.5% of the total cimetidine prescriptions and 14.5% of the fetal omeprazole prescriptions. Conclusions : Antiulcerative drugs were frequently prescribed in the elderly inpatients. The adverse drug reaction could possibly be due to drug interaction. The study results could be used as fundamental data for further drug utilization review of antiulceratiye agents.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.135-144
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyze the medical cost for patients with vertigo and to examine associations between chronic vertigo and mental disorder using 2014 Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service-National Patients Sample (HIRA-NPS). Methods: We analyzed sociodemographic characteristics, medical cost and medical care use pattern for vertigo patients. We used hierarchical multiple logistic regression analysis to examine odds ratio between chronic vertigo and mental disorder. Results: A total of 46,502 people and 118,504 claims data were identified for vertigo cases. Characteristics of vertigo patients have significant differences on proportion of female patients (68.36%), patients' average age (54.98) and proportion of medical assistance (5.76%) compared with non-vertigo patients. Results revealed that Korean medicine are one of frequent methods among total treatments for vertigo patients. Total days of medical care and total costs are 2.78 days and 111,362 won, respectively, and days for outpatients in Korean medical care (mean: 2.26 days) are more than those (mean: 5.05 days) in Western medical care. There is significant difference relative to sex between acute vertigo and chronic vertigo. The odds ratio between chronic vertigo and mental disorder is estimated as 1.34, that means risk of becoming chronic is 34% higher for vertigo patients with mental disorder. Conclusions: This study assessed socio-demographic characteristics, medical care use and expenses related to vertigo, and estimated associations between chronic vertigo and mental disorder. Findings provide a basis for economic evaluation studies on vertigo patients and development of clinical practice guidelines for vertigo patients with mental disorder.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.107-116
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• 2018

Objective: This study analyzed the national claims data of veterans to generate scientific evidence of the trends and appropriateness of their drug utilization in an outpatient setting. Methods: The claims data were provided by the Health Insurance Review & Assessment (HIRA). Through sampling and matching data, we selected two comparable groups; Veterans vs. National Health Insurance (NHI) patients and Veterans vs. Medical Aid (MAID) patients. Drug use and costs were compared between groups by using multivariate gamma regression models to account for the skewed distribution, and therapeutic duplication was analyzed by using multivariate logistic regression models. Results: In equivalent conditions, veteran patients made fewer visits to medical institutions (0.88 vs. 1), had 1.86 times more drug use, and paid 1.4 times more drug costs than NHI patients (p<0.05); similarly, veteran patients made fewer visits to medical institutions (0.96 vs. 1), had 1.11 times more drug use, and paid 0.95 times less drug costs than MAID patients (p<0.05). The risk of therapeutic duplication was 1.7 times higher (OR=1.657) in veteran patients than in NHI patients and 1.3 times higher (OR=1.311) than in MAID patients (p<0.0001). Conclusion: Similar patterns of drug use were found in veteran patients and MAID patients. There were greater concerns about the drug use behavior in veteran patients, with longer prescribing days and a higher rate of therapeutic duplication, than in MAID patients. Efforts should be made to measure if any inefficiency exists in veterans' drug use behavior.

• Journal of Korean Medical Science
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• v.33 no.49
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• pp.310.1-310.11
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• 2018

Background: Acute pyelonephritis (APN) is one of the most common community-acquired bacterial infections. Recent increases of antimicrobial resistance in urinary pathogens might have changed the other epidemiologic characteristics of APN. The objective of this study was to describe the current epidemiology of APN in Korea, using the entire population. Methods: From the claims database of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service in Korea, the patients with International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision codes N10 (acute tubulo-interstitial nephritis) or N12 (tubulo-interstitial nephritis, neither acute nor chronic) as the primary discharge diagnosis during 2010-2014 were analyzed, with two or more claims during a 14-day period considered as a single episode. Results: The annual incidence rate of APN per 10,000 persons was 39.1 and was on the increase year to year (35.6 in 2010; 36.7 in 2011; 38.9 in 2012; 40.1 in 2013; 43.8 in 2014, P = 0.004). The increasing trend was observed in both inpatients (P = 0.014) and outpatients (P = 0.004); in both men (P = 0.042) and women (P = 0.003); and those aged under 55 years (P = 0.014) and 55 years or higher (P = 0.003). Eleven times more women were diagnosed and treated with APN than men (men vs. women, 6.5 vs. 71.3), and one of every 4.1 patients was hospitalized (inpatients vs. outpatients, 9.6 vs. 29.4). The recurrence rate was 15.8%, and the median duration from a sporadic episode (i.e., no episode in the preceding 12 months) to the first recurrence was 44 days. The recurrence probability increased with the number of previous recurrences. The average medical cost per inpatient episode was USD 1,144, which was 12.9 times higher than that per outpatient episode (USD 89). Conclusion: The epidemiology of APN in Korea has been changing with an increasing incidence rate.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.276-289
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• 2022

Objectives: Child and adolescent sleep is an important factor for brain and physical development. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the prevalence of sleep disorders and nonorganic sleep disorders in children and adolescents and determine the type of utilization of medical institutions. This study analyzed the prevalence and type of medical institutions in Korean children and adolescents with sleep disorders and nonorganic sleep disorders. Methods: This study used data recorded in the Health Insurance Review and Assessment-National Patient Sample (HIRA-NPS) database from 2010 to 2017. Details of medical institution type and patient's sex, age, and treatment type were extracted for patients younger than 20 years with sleep disorders and nonorganic sleep disorders. Results: Among 2,536,478 patients under age 20, we identified 3,772 patients with sleep disorders or nonorganic sleep disorders. From 2010 to 2017, the prevalence of sleep disorders in children and adolescents was 0.07% to 0.09%. The utilization rate of Korean medical institutions was 30.47%. The prevalence of nonorganic sleep disorders and the utilization rate of Korean medical institutions were 0.06% to 0.08% and 45.99%, respectively. Conclusion: The prevalence of sleep disorders and nonorganic sleep disorders in the under-20 population was 0.14% to 0.16%. More than 70% of patients with nonorganic sleep disorder who were younger than 9 years used Korean medical institutions.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.508-517
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• 2021

Background: After the first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in January 2020, Korea has experienced three waves in 2020. This study aimed to analyze changes in health care utilization according to the period of the 1st to 3rd waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We analyzed 3,354,469,401 national health insurance claims from 59,104 medical facilities between 2017 and 2020. Observed-to-expected ratios (O:E ratio) with data from 2017 to 2019 as expected values and data from 2020 as observed values were obtained to analyze changes in medical utilization. T-test was used to test whether the difference of observed and expected values was statistically significant. Results: In 2020, the O:E ratio was 0.894, indicating a decrease in health care utilization overall during the pandemic. The O:E ratio of the 1st wave was 0.832, which was lower than those of the second (0.886) and third (0.873) waves. Health care utilization decreased relatively more among outpatient, women, children and adolescents, and health insurance patients. And health care utilization decreased more in small medical facilities and in Daegu and Gyeongbuk during the first wave. During the pandemic, the O:E ratios of respiratory diseases were 0.486-0.694, while chronic diseases and mental diseases were more than 1.0. Conclusion: Health care utilization decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic overall, and there were differences by COVID-19 waves, and by the characteristics of patients and medical facilities. It is necessary to understand the cause of changes in health care utilization in order to cope with the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.313-320
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• 2022

Background: Serotonin syndrome is a life-threatening disease if not appropriately treated. This study aimed to investigate the prescription status of contraindicated drug combinations that cause serotonin syndrome and identify the related factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using nationwide claims data. Adult patients taking serotonergic drugs with Parkinson's disease or mental disorders were selected. Based on international medical databases (MDBs) and the Korean Drug Utilization Review (DUR), the status of prescribing contraindicated drug combinations that induce serotonin syndrome, the related factors, and the difference between international MDBs and the Korean DUR were analyzed. Results: Of the 49,773 study subjects, 163 (0.3%) were prescribed contraindicated serotonergic drug combinations based on international MDBs, and among them, only 105 (64.4%) were contraindicated by the Korean DUR. Positive influencing factors for prescribing contraindicated drug combinations include patient age between 65 and 74 and physician's specialties (neurologists, and orthopedists). Negative influencing factors were physician's specialty (internists) and medical institution (primary institutions). Conclusion: Despite the implementation of DUR, 3 out of 1,000 study subjects received contraindicated drug combinations that caused serotonin syndrome. Hence, it is necessary to comply with the DUR and improve it in accordance with international MDBs.